Donovan, Landon ( born March 4, 1982 , Ontario, Calif.California, U.S.American professional football (soccer) player, widely regarded as the greatest American male player in the history of the sport.

Donovan was a star player in high school in Redlands, Calif.California, and in 1998 he joined the U.S. national under-17 (U-17) team. His success in U-17 play drew the attention of German club Bayer Leverkusen, which signed the teenage Donovan in 1999. He played on the Bayer reserve team for one season and was called up to the first team in 2000, but he did not appear in a game before being loaned to the San Jose (Calif.California) Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) in March 2001.

Donovan was an immediate success in his return to the United States, leading the Earthquakes to an MLS Cup title in his first year with the team. The Earthquakes won a second MLS Cup title in 2003, with Donovan earning U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year honours as well. He won the award a second time in 2004. In early 2005 he returned to Bayer Leverkusen for two and half months before being acquired by the Los Angeles Galaxy of MLS. He then led the Galaxy to an MLS Cup championship in his first season in Los Angeles, giving Donovan his third league title in five years. In 2008 he was loaned to the German powerhouse team Bayern Munich for the MLS off-season, playing mostly as a substitute. After guiding the Galaxy to an appearance in the 2009 MLS Cup final (a loss to Real Salt Lake [Utah]), Donovan won the league’s Most Valuable Player award and was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year a record-tying third time. In 2010 he made his biggest splash to date as a player on loan when he became one of the featured players with Everton during a short stay in the English Premier League, and the following year he scored the championship-clinching goal to secure another MLS Cup title for the Galaxy.

While arguably the biggest star in the MLS during his domestic career, Donovan also made his lasting mark on the sport at the international level. In addition to his exploits as a member of the U.S. U-17 team—which included winning the Golden Ball award as Most Valuable Player of the 1999 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) U-17 World Championship—Donovan starred on the American under-20 and under-23 teams and played for his country in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He made his debut with the senior national squad in 2000, scoring a goal in his first match. Donovan led the United States to a surprising run to the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, but the team failed to replicate its success at the 2006 World Cup, recording just two goals (one them an opposition own goal) en route to an opening round-robin group stage elimination. In 2008 Donovan became the all-time leading goal scorer in U.S. national team history. He was also a member of three Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup-winning teams (2002, 2005, 2007).